Many people own firearms for protection, sport or both. Storage of such firearms has lead to three seemingly conflicting considerations: security, quick access, and attractive display. Security of firearms is critical to prevent unauthorized access to the firearm. Firearms are often kept in the home or other locations where access must be limited due to obvious concerns, such as access by children or others unfamiliar with firearms. Security is also critical to prevent a possible intruder from accessing the firearm and using it against the owner. In addition, many firearms are expensive, and while their owners enjoy displaying them, they want to minimize the risk of theft or misuse. While security is critical, quick access is essential.
For example, in an emergency situation where time is often of the essence, the owner needs quick access to the firearm to protect the home, self, or family. At the same time, attractive display of the firearm can be desirable for numerous reasons. For instance, displaying a firearm can have a deterrent effect on prospective intruders thus reducing the possibility of a dangerous confrontation. Apart from protection and deterrence, many owners simply enjoy displaying their firearms. As each of these three considerations are important, many firearm owners would appreciate the convenience and peace of mind of a security and display device that minimizes the risk of unauthorized access while maximizing display characteristics and unimpeded ready access when needed.
Security and display devices have long been used to store firearms, but none have provided a device that does not critically limit one or more of the three considerations of security, quick access, and attractive display. For example, many owners store their firearms in a locked box or chest. While such a device can provide excellent security, the considerations of quick access and attractive display are sacrificed. As another example, some owners store their firearms in a glass enclosed cabinet that is lockable using a combination of nooses, bolts, hooks, straps and magnets to fasten the firearm against the cabinet wall. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,038. Such a device addresses the consideration of attractive display, but security is compromised as glass can be easily broken. Also, quick access is critically impeded as the owner must go through the steps of unlocking the lock, opening cabinet, releasing the firearm, and then retrieving the firearm.
Security and display devices are also used in vehicles, such as armored cars or police cruisers. For example, some police cruisers have firearms secured onto the dashboards using locking brackets, which can be unlocked if a release button is pressed. Typically, such a button will be hidden within the vehicle. Even if the button is hidden, security is jeopardized because anyone can activate the button. For instance, on occasion police officers must quickly leave the cruiser with the doors unlocked or outright opened. At that point, a criminal could conceivably enter the cruiser, search for the button, and access the firearm. Furthermore, quick access is jeopardized as the officer must physically activate the hidden button before he or she can retrieve the firearm.
The lock box disclosed by Fischer in U.S. Pat. No. 5,138,786 attempted to incorporate the three considerations of security, quick access, and attractive display in the storage of rifles and shotguns. However, the Fischer lock box has undesirable limitations. One such limitation is that before access can be obtained to the firearm, the user must manually enter a combination and manually open the lock. These steps will be hindered by a number of factors like a poor lighting in a darkened room or the hurried nervousness that a user will inevitably experience in an emergency situation. In addition, the lock box fails to provide its own means for holding the firearm when the box is open, thus making access clumsy as the user must concentrate on both unlocking the box and holding the firearm. Another limitation of the Fischer lock box is in the area of security. Specifically, it is conceivable that someone could access the inside of the lock box with a probe, such as a hanger or stick, and manipulate the trigger or hammer, possibly causing an unintentional discharge. As an accidental discharge is possible, a prudent firearm owner using the lock box might purposefully leave the firearm unchambered or unloaded, thus adding yet another step in fully accessing the firearm for use.
The mounting and locking mechanism for handguns disclosed by Cervantes in U.S. Pat. No. 4,299,045 shares many of the problems with the other prior art. For example, an owner must go through the steps of manually entering a combination, manually opening the lock, and then manually navigating the handgun around hooks and posts, to retrieve the firearm. This mechanism also compromises security because operational portions of the firearm are relatively accessible, such as the cylinder in a revolver or the magazine release in a semi-automatic. As such, unauthorized access to the ammunition remains a real possibility, which can potentially result in an unintentional discharge. Because ammunition is accessible, a prudent owner will likely leave the firearm unloaded making if useless in an emergency situation.
Thus, there is a need for a storage device that securely locks the firearm, permits quick access to the firearm in an emergency, and attractively displays the firearm.